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Apr 2 Leave Your Clothes at the Door

Louder Milk and Moon like to play their sets in what they go to bed in and their sweet brand of freaky folk funk makes you want to strip down and hop right in bed with them. This scantily clad band of joyful misfits is led by a hovering tree of a man named Christopher O Mcgrath. He towers over others as he gently guides his fellow bandmates through the intricate stops, starts, breakdowns, sing-a-longs and psychedelic trance-laden songs that hail from different realms beyond this one. Yeah, things get weird. LM&M recently played a basement show at the 898 house over in the West End. I got the pleasure of catching them alongside their alter ego Sad Fish. LM&M is comprised of Mr. Mcgrath on vocals and guitar, Arthur Cabral on bass, Lyle Baldes on drums, Heather Marie Laveau on backing vocals, Emma Rubenstein on Djembe, Abigail Popwell on Congas and Peter Flemming aka Pikachu on clarinet. Stripped down to just their skivvies, bathrobes, and pajamas they brought their sweet delicious melodies to the heart of the historic West End.As the night went on and freaks of all sorts filled the house, basement and backyard the fire pit went up and the beer began to flow. Resident Caelen Daugherty donned his trusty cowboy hat and beckoned everyone else to join him in costume. Soon everyone was rockin’ out with wizard cloaks, jester hats, a shark suit and a plethora of other found, gathered and repurposed costumes. And then came the medic-keg.Whenever out of beer just call on the medic-keg and soon enough your problem would be solved. The medic-keg is a keg on a cart that could be rolled around whenever you are feeling dry, and it made the rounds. Usually ridden like a wild stallion till the occupant could no longer hold on. Then Sad Fish, a psychedelic, Brazilian surf rock band, took over the basement’s dance floor. Sharing many of the same members of LM&M, Sad Fish leaves a much different sonic footprint than its counterpart. Arthur Cabral hails from Brazil. He mixes samba and psychedelic 80’s synth pop to create trancy guitar riffs that leave you with no choice but to dance. He is joined by Sean Conlon on bass and Emma Rubenstien on drums and percussion as well as a number of rotating members. The occupants of the 898 House would have had angry neighbors if they had any. The house is nestled in between two abandoned residences. One newly renovated and one still covered head to toe in scrap plywood to keep out squatters.It seems to be a fairly familiar scene in most of the West End; new developments sprinkled in amongst decrepit and well-worn homes.The 898 House still has a lot to offer the West End and I hope to be catching more homegrown talent there in the near future.